How Bolt became the anti-Uber; tips for your two weeks' notice; and more

Welcome to Forbes Edge, your insider’s guide to career and entrepreneurial success, exclusively on LinkedIn. This week we want to tell you about 29-year-old Markus Villig and how he’s positioned his ride-hailing app Bolt to take on Uber. Then we’ll go over tips for giving notice without burning bridges, as well as some advice for waiting out the current housing market.

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Success Story of the Week: How Estonian Startup Bolt Beat Uber At Its Own Game

Early in Bolt’s history, founder and CEO Markus Villig was pitching his app in Belgrade, Serbia, when he realized he wanted nothing to do with the taxicab industry. During a pitch to a local cab boss on a digital dispatch feature for drivers, a revolver left casually on the desk gave him pause—maybe he was focused on the wrong end of the business.

Instead, he’d work with drivers and riders directly—a path that put him in direct competition with Uber. Taking on the ride-hailing behemoth was less scary than being on the wrong end of a gun, but daunting nonetheless. Estonia-based Bolt was tiny by comparison. In 2015, they had $2 million in funding; Uber had raised $1.2 billion a year earlier at a $17 billion valuation.

Villig, just 21 at the time, made two strategic choices: First, he targeted markets with little competition, like Poland. He also ran the company on a shoestring budget, running close to break-even as annual revenue grew from $730,000 to $142 million between 2015 to 2019. Uber, by contrast, burned through $19.8 billion, almost $6.3 million a day, before going public in 2019.

Being thrifty has paid off: As of its last fundraising round in January 2022, Bolt was valued at $8.4 billion. While startup values have since tumbled, Forbes estimates that 29-year-old Villig’s 17% stake is currently worth $700 million.

Success Edge: Bolt doesn’t issue credit cards, phones or other corporate goodies to its employees—until 2019, Villig shared a room when traveling to save on hotel costs. One early investor recently spotted him crammed into the middle seat on Ryanair, Europe’s budget airline. Despite being 6-foot-4, Villig had apparently passed on the $14 upgrade for an exit row.?

Villig now has the money—and the mandate—to supercharge Bolt’s growth, but he needs to be careful to avoid falling into the same traps that snared Uber. While raising Uber-like venture funding in 2021, Bolt also posted Uber-like losses. Additionally, Villig has spent time and money on ongoing efforts to build a Bolt “super app” offering scooters, rental cars and food and grocery delivery.?

In His Words: “We have had quite a lot of interest, but if I sell the business, I will take two weeks of vacation, then fly back on Ryanair and start my next venture,” he says. “I’ve got a couple of decades of building ahead of me.”

Read the full story here.?

Tips and Strategies: How To Break Up With Your Employer, The Classy Way

In all the excitement that comes with a job offer, it’s easy to overlook the sensitivities of an appropriate exit strategy from your current company. Giving two weeks’ notice is common practice across industries, and may even be a company-wide policy or a stipulation in your employment contract. Beyond that, your actions during that period can go a long way in demonstrating professionalism.

It can be tempting to quit abruptly or engage in “quiet quitting” behavior, especially if you’re leaving a toxic work environment or a bad boss, but burning that bridge can have costs down the line if your behavior negatively impacts soon-to-be former coworkers.

Read the full story here from Forbes contributor Jack Kelly.

Practical Advice: Beat Today’s Housing Market By Staying Out Of It

While median U.S. home prices are coming down from their record high in June 2022, it might not feel that way if you’re looking in a hot market. Zillow predicts Charlotte, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dallas and Nashville will be the top five housing markets this year.

But regardless of where you want to live, there are smart ways to avoid buying what might ultimately be an overvalued asset: Keep up the habit of going to open houses, get familiar with a mortgage calculator, continue to pay off any credit card debt and put your future down payment to work by taking advantage of the high interest rates.

Read the full story here from Forbes contributor Bernadette Joy.

More:?

• Business Travel Will Never Bounce Back To Pre-Pandemic Levels, Studies Say
• A Nighttime Routine To Help You Lessen Anxiety About Going To Work
• Want To Make Your iPhone More Secure? Here’s What To Do

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Beyond The Newsroom:?

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Thank you for reading! We'll be back next Tuesday morning with another Forbes Edge.?

This edition of Forbes Edge was written and curated by senior editor Sarah Whitmire.?